City Commission advances charter amendment to make inspector general 'independent'

Voters will likely get to weigh in on a Tallahassee charter amendment that would make the inspector general more independent from his bosses on the City Commission and allow the office to handle whistleblower complaints involving commissioners and their staffs.

City commissioners, in a fairly rare 4-1 vote, signed off on the proposed charter amendment during their April 24 meeting. A public hearing is set for Wednesday. If finally approved by commissioners, it would go before voters in the fall.

The amendment would make it more difficult for the City Commission to fire the inspector general — a step designed to prevent political interference in his job. However, it wouldn’t make him completely invulnerable.

Currently, the City Commission can terminate the inspector general, one of the top four appointed city officials, with a simple 3-2 vote. Under the charter amendment, it would require a two-thirds majority or in practical terms a 4-1 or unanimous vote.

Dennis Sutton, the city auditor who also became inspector general in 2020, when that office was created, offered up the charter amendment April 10 during debate on a similar proposal put forward by the Charter Review Committee. He elaborated on it during the commission’s most recent meeting.

“It would ... make it much more difficult for the inspector general to be removed or decisions or conclusions that the inspector general makes in relation to investigations into complaints,” Sutton said of his proposal. “And I believe this would provide the additional independence required to all the inspector general to receive complaints related to the elected officials and their staff.”

Under Sutton’s proposal and draft language before the commission, the position of inspector general would replace the auditor in the charter, the city’s guiding constitution. However, the office would still have both audit and investigation divisions as it does now.

The inspector general would serve a term of five-year, with commissioners deciding six months before each interval whether to renew their contract. If no action is taken, the inspector general would be automatically reappointed.

The IG could be removed only by a super-majority vote on specified charges that include neglect of duty, discrimination and ethical misconduct. He would be automatically removed if convicted or otherwise guilty of a felony.

In March, the 10-person CRC voted in favor of putting a charter amendment on ballots that would give the city’s Independent Ethics Board — not the inspector general — the ability to handle whistleblower complaints involving city commissioners, the IG and their staffs.

The Ethics Board, citing a longstanding “gap” in the law, had been asking for that authority for more than two years. The city attorney advised last year that it would require a charter amendment and referendum.

Mayor: 'Massive change to the job description'

During the April 24 commission meeting, Ernie Paine, who advanced the Ethics Board’s proposal as a member of the CRC, expressed support for both Sutton and the Ethics Board’s proposals. He told commissioners he had one caveat though.

“This alternative is a step in the right direction,” said Paine, a former member of the Ethics Board and current member of the nonprofit Citizens for Ethics Reform. “However, any move toward independence for the inspector general will have no meaning if he continues to rely on the city’s legal staff for legal counsel.”

City Attorney Amy Toman said her office has the sole responsibility for city legal matters. She also said the ordinance provides for the hiring of outside counsel in cases in which a conflict of interest may arise involving city commissioners and the city attorney, who serves at their will.

Mayor John Dailey opposed both proposals, saying they came up at the tail-end of the charter review process and that the CRC initially voted in favor of its version by only one vote. The CRC voted again, unanimously, later in the meeting, though Dailey called that “ceremonial.”

“This is massive change to the job description,” Dailey said. “And I think that the community should spend a lot more time than just last meeting and this meeting on that discussion to be able to move forward.”

Commissioner Jeremy Matlow disagreed, saying that proposal had been under debate for two-plus years. He said that with only a 3-2 vote, the City Commission “could eliminate the inspector general if he started investigating something that may embarrass a commissioner ... embarrass any one of us up here.”

Matlow moved and Commissioner Jack Porter seconded to send both proposals to the ballot. But Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox made a substitute motion for Sutton’s proposal, getting a second from Commissioner Curtis Richardson. That prevailed 4-1, with Dailey in dissent.

Williams-Cox noted that the CRC and the latest charter review process wasn’t “in sight” when the commission created the Office of Inspector General four years ago.

“It’s our opportunity to try to make that happen now,” she said.

The draft language doesn't explicitly mention the hiring of outside legal counsel. It also doesn't specifically provide a mechanism for the handling of whistleblower complaints involving the inspector general. A similar loophole may exist with the Ethics Board and any complaints that could in theory involve it.

Sutton said the Ethics Board proposal would provide for whistleblower protections only as they pertain to the city's Code of Ethics. His alternative would give the inspector general the ability to accept whistleblower complaints and designate whistleblowers under all the provisions of Florida's whistleblower statute, including gross mismanagement, he said in a Thursday interview.

Voters will also decide charter amendment that would double city commissioner pay

The inspector general charter amendment is one of five that will be on ballots in the Nov. 5 general election. It’s unlikely to draw as much attention as another one — to double the salary of city commissioners — that commissioners advanced to the ballot in a recent 3-2 vote.

Under that proposal, city commissioners’ annual pay would go from roughly $45,000 to $90,000, the amount Leon County commissioners earn. Their pay would be set on county commissioner pay, which is adjusted each year by state formula. There would be no change to the pay of the mayor, who earns the same as county commissioners.

The other charter amendments would move two-person city races from the August primary to the November election, require city charter reviews every 10 years and expand the Ethics Board’s jurisdiction to cover city commissioners while serving on Blueprint or other government boards.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: City Commission advances charter amendment to make inspector general 'independent'